hesta

wither

hesta vb. "wither" (LT1:255)

hessa

dead, withered

hessa adj. "dead, withered" (LT1:255)

hesta-

verb. to wither

hessa

adjective. withered, dead

quel-

verb. to fade, to fade; [ᴹQ.] †to fail; [ᴱQ.] to perish

firin

dead

firin adj. "dead" (by natural cause) (PHIR).This may obsolete the earlier "Qenya" word firin "ray of the sun" (LT2:341)

histanë

fading

histanë pre-classical participle? "fading" (MC:213; this is "Qenya")

qualin

dead

qualin ("q")adj. "dead" (KWAL, LT1:264)

quellë

fading

quellë noun "fading", in the calendar of Imladris a precisely defined period of 54 days, but also used without any exact definition, for the latter part of autumn and the beginning of winter (Appendix D)

sinta-

fade

sinta- (þ) (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. sintanë (THIN)

vinda-

fade

[vinda- vb. "fade"; pa.t. vindanë given (VT46:21). Compare vinta-.]

vinta-

fade

[vinta- (2) vb. "fade", pa.t. vintë, vintanë given. (WIN/WIND) Compare vinda-.]

kwel

root. fade, die away, grow faint, fade, die away, grow faint, [ᴹ√] fade away; wither, [ᴱ√] decay, perish, die

In Tolkien’s later writings this root primarily meant “fade”, but its earliest precursor ᴱ√QELE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s was glossed “perish, die, decay, fade”, with derivatives like ᴱQ. qele- of the same meaning, ᴱQ. qelet “corpse”, and ᴱQ. qelme “ruin, utter end, perdition, end, death” (GL/76). Derivatives from the contemporaneous Gnomish Lexicon had a similar semantic scope, such as G. cwel- “fade, wither”, G. cweleg “corpse”, and G. cweloth “fading”, most notably as an element in G. lasgweloth “leaf-fading, autumn” (GL/28); the connection between this root and words for “autumn” survived in Tolkien’s later conception of the languages.

In The Etymologies of the 1930s, the meaning of the root ᴹ√KWEL seems to have softened somewhat to “fade (away), wither” with more of a sense of waning rather than outright death, though ᴹQ. qelet “corpse” remained among its derivatives (Ety/KEL, KWEL). In the 1930s it still was related to words for “autumn”, notably N. lhasbelin (Ety/LAS¹) “leaf-fall, autumn” and ᴹQ. Narqelion “Fire-fading, Autumn” (Ety/NAR¹). The latter seems to have been modified to Q. Narquelië (and S. Narbeleth) as the Elvish word for October, literally “Sun-fading”, in the Lord of the Ring appendixes (LotR/1107). The root was also the basis for Q. quellë “autumn” (LotR/1111), though its Sindarin equivalent (firith) was based on a different root.

Starting in the 1930s Tolkien indicated this root had an etymological relationship with √KEL “flow (down)”; see that entry for details.

khes

root. wither

tharn

adjective. sapless, stiff, rigid, withered

pelin

noun. fading, withering

tharn

adjective. sapless, stiff, rigid, withered

fern

noun/adjective. dead (of mortals)

fern

noun/adjective. dead person

gwinna-

verb. to fade

thinna-

verb. to fade, to grow towards evening

The punctuation in The Etymologies is considered incorrect (the full dot after this word should conceivably be a comma)

peleth

noun. fading, withering

pel

wither

pel- (i bêl, i phelir) (fade)

pel

wither

(i bêl, i phelir) (fade)

hesg

adjective. withered, dead; chilled, chill

peleth

withering

(noun) *peleth (i beleth, o pheleth) (fading), pl. pelith (i phelith).

pelin

withering

(noun) *pelin (i belin) (fading), no distict pl. form except with article (i phelin)

tharn

withered

tharn (sapless, stiff, rigid), pl. thern

peleth

withering

(i beleth, o pheleth) (fading), pl. pelith (i phelith).

pelin

withering

(i belin) (fading), no distict pl. form except with article (i phelin)

tharn

withered

(sapless, stiff, rigid), pl. thern

thisin

adjective. parched, withered, *desiccated

@@@ dissimilation of second th to s

fir

fade

1) fir- (i fîr, i firir) (die), 2) pel- (i bêl, i phelir) (wither), 3) thinna- (grow toward evening)

pel

fade

(i bêl, i phelir) (wither)

pelin

fading

(noun) 3) *pelin (i belin) (withering), no distinct pl. form except with article (i phelin), 2) #peleth (i beleth, o pheleth) (withering), pl. pelith (i phelith). Isolated from the name of the month Narbeleth.

tharn

sapless

tharn (stiff, rigid, withered), pl. thern

pelin

fading

(i belin) (withering), no distinct pl. form except with article (i phelin), 2) #peleth (i beleth, o pheleth) (withering), pl. pelith (i phelith). Isolated from the name of the month Narbeleth.

tharn

sapless

(stiff, rigid, withered), pl. thern****

gorth

dead

(adj.) 1) gorth (lenited ngorth; pl. gyrth), also fern, pl. firn. These adjectives may also be used as nouns ”dead person(s)”. According to LR:381 s.v. _

fern

noun/adjective. dead, dead person; [N.] dead (of mortals)

An adjective in The Etymologies of the 1930s glossed “dead (of mortals)” under the root ᴹ√PHIR “die of natural causes”, used as a plural noun in the name Dor Firn i Guinar “Land of the Dead that Live” (Ety/PHIR). Christopher Tolkien choose to include the name Dor Firn-i-Guinar in the published version of The Silmarillion (S/188), and most Sindarin writers accept its ongoing validity.

gorth

noun. a dead person

gorthrim

noun. the dead

fir

fade

(i fîr, i firir) (die)

firith

season of fading

(no distinct pl. form).

thinna

fade

(grow toward evening)